cg41386 131 Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 I think an even better question here is, how is it that WGNT rose to fourth place? I'm not sure how uncommon it is for a CW affiliate to be a top-4 station (I have a hunch it's not very, considering the network's low overall national ratings), but it is particularly interesting considering that WGNT is not like WGN-TV, which would be more plausible as a top-4 station as a CW affiliate. The station must pull decent ratings for its syndicated programming, unless its primetime ratings are better than what is expected for many CW stations, like it is in Chicago. I think I read somewhere that WGNT was one of the higher-rated UPN affiliates at some point, I suppose that has carried over to its CW affiliation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChesapeakeTV 310 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 WALA has begun airing the standard "transfer of control" ads required by the FCC when an ownership change is about to take place. http://www.examiner.com/article/wala-tv-broadcasts-messages-related-to-their-parent-company-s-merger-plan It is referencing the change of ownership from LIN to Media General through the merger of both companies into a new incarnation of Media General. I'm assuming this is only a formality, but could it signal the intentions of Media General keeping WALA and WFNA and divesting WKRG? It appears that no such ads are airing on WKRG....yet... Little late here, but I've seen WVBT airing these too. John Beach's voice sounds really strange compressed. As a network affiliate, especially of CBS, WTKR *should* have remained in the top four for most of the last few years. Judging by the revenue figures it's WGNT. I'm not really sure what to think of WTKR. Their ratings seem to swing from one extreme to the other every few years. Right now they appear (no figures to peruse, so I'm just going by what I see) to be doing reasonably well...even with their exceptionally and uniquely dumb news presentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3458 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/77598 Based on this article, the merged Media General is basically going to be in name alone, since virtually ALL of their current executives (and even some Young ones who survived that merger) will be getting their walking papers in favor of LIN's current management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrabbleship 427 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/77598 Based on this article, the merged Media General is basically going to be in name alone, since virtually ALL of their current executives (and even some Young ones who survived that merger) will be getting their walking papers in favor of LIN's current management. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/77598 Based on this article, the merged Media General is basically going to be in name alone, since virtually ALL of their current executives (and even some Young ones who survived that merger) will be getting their walking papers in favor of LIN's current management. This becomes hilarious from an Albany perspective as LIN at one point or another tried to (separately) buy WTEN and WXXA. In the analog era, the former's existence caused massive headaches for WWLP in the Berkshires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 869 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 When she moved to Media General with the Young-Media General merger, it was not her first stint there. She was station manager at Media General's WKRN (ABC) in Nashville (DMA 29) from 1986 to 1989. From 1980 to 1996, she was station manager andVP at WKRN. What? At no point before swallowing Young did Media General own WKRN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 What? At no point before swallowing Young did Media General own WKRN. No but they're a Media General property now. Actually sounds better than saying "Young's WKRN" since Young no longer exists. It's assumed the reader knows WKRN is a former Young station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 LIN/MG will still have to break up New Mexico's KRQE/KASA to come into compliance, however. Okay, another amendment was posted this morning (8/4) on the MG/LIN deal, sparing them from breaking-up the New Mexico duopoly. On page 23 of this revised comprehensive exhibit, it states that based on the July sweeps numbers, KASA-TV is NOT within the top-4. e. Albuquerque, New Mexico: In this market, subsidiaries of LIN are the licensees of KASA-TV, Santa Fe, New Mexico and KRQE(TV), Albuquerque, New Mexico, as well as satellite stations KBIM-TV, Roswell, New Mexico and KREZ-TV Durango, Colorado. Based on Nielsen ratings data for the July sweeps, KASA-TV is not a Top Four station in the market. As shown in Attachment C-5, there will remain at least eight independently owned and operated television stations in the market post-merger. In addition, the contours of Stations KBIM-TV and KREZ-TV do not overlap those of either KRQE(TV) or KASA-TV, nor do they overlap each other’s contour.30 KBIM-TV and KREZ-TV operate as satellite stations of KRQE(TV), but because of the lack of signal overlap, KBIM-TV and KREZTV can be owned in combination with KRQE(TV) and KASA-TV in compliance with the Duopoly Rule without the need for a satellite exemption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Okay, another amendment was posted this morning (8/4) on the MG/LIN deal, sparing them from breaking-up the New Mexico duopoly. On page 23 of this revised comprehensive exhibit, it states that based on the July sweeps numbers, KASA-TV is NOT within the top-4. So who is? KWBQ (which they operate in part)? KLUZ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanewsguy 509 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 So who is? KWBQ (which they operate in part)? KLUZ? Probably KLUZ due to ABQ's Hispanic population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I figured a Hispanic station was top-4 in Albuquerque (if not two of them), so that seems more reasonable. Now on to finding buyers for the conflict stations, then solving the shells... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promoguy98 252 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 LIN, MG Prep For Station Spinoffs. Article link below outlines some comments made today during each company's respective quarterly earning calls. Personally, I'm surprised they haven't pulled a recent Gray/Sinclair type of deal with plans to turn in some licenses and put the extra stations on subchannels in markets like Mobile, Birmingham and Savannah. In some of those instances they wouldn't seem to have quite enough subchannel room and would more than likely swap/sell off the least vaulable asset. Technically when it comes down to it, they could probably do WKRG on 5.1 with Fox 10 on a subchannel or vice versa and in Birmingham do WVTM and WIAT together, then sell off the least important ASSETS leftover from those new arrangments. On the flipside not sure how well that would work, at least in Mobile as WKRG and WALA are strong household brand names. In Savannah, if I know the "new" rules correctly, they could keep the license and channel of the #4 ranked station they have and then put another station on one of its subchannels, so at first glance it seems they could keep everything in Savannah with the proper shuffling around and just the right licenses turned in. Guess the big question remains... do they go the traditional route and sell/swap off?? or do they pull a Gray / Sinclair type of maneuver?!? http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/78213/lin-media-general-prep-for-station-spinoffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 For the shelled stations they will likely shut down. But they would gain more stations or money in return from divested solid stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promoguy98 252 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 For the shelled stations they will likely shut down. But they would gain more stations or money in return from divested solid stations. Very true. Guess it all comes down to whether they want the money that bad or want to own more in each existing market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Very true. Guess it all comes down to whether they want the money that bad or want to own more in each existing market. Or they may want into more markets or legal duopolies from exchanging instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promoguy98 252 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Or they may want into more markets or legal duopolies from exchanging instead? quite possible.... makes it so tough to gauge their next move... according to that article today they really seem to be sweating it out over these upcoming decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3458 Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 It's all going to come down to money in the end. Whoever will offer the most for a given station, and whether or not Media General post-merger will be getting something better in return. Unless Raycom has something really big and secret up their sleeve, I doubt they are interested. The only way I see it is if they trade one of their weaker stations (WAVE) for something in Mobile. If they were that interested, i'm sure they would have approached either LIN or Media General about taking a station or two away in Mobile by now. Otherwise, Meredith, Gray, Nexstar and now Gannett could be strong contenders for these affected stations if they're in a buying mood. Each company would be able to bolster their regional presence if they make a move.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 719 Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Technically when it comes down to it, they could probably do WKRG on 5.1 with Fox 10 on a subchannel or vice versa and in Birmingham do WVTM and WIAT together, then sell off the least important ASSETS leftover from those new arrangments. On the flipside not sure how well that would work, at least in Mobile as WKRG and WALA are strong household brand names. In Savannah, if I know the "new" rules correctly, they could keep the license and channel of the #4 ranked station they have and then put another station on one of its subchannels, so at first glance it seems they could keep everything in Savannah with the proper shuffling around and just the right licenses turned in. To run sports you need bandwidth, I don't see how you do football games without degrading what you see on the other station. It's one thing for small markets to do this with two networks, or big markets with CW or MyTV, but I don't like that idea for a market like Birmingham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3458 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Meredith is buying WALA. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/CG93705.htm No mention is made about WFNA, so it looks like they will be moving in with WKRG post merger. Also no word on any other divestitures so far.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Meredith is buying WALA. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/CG93705.htm No mention is made about WFNA, so it looks like they will be moving in with WKRG post merger. Also no word on any other divestitures so far.... 1 down, 4 to go. Interesting, I guess Raycom wasn't interested in Mobile? Meredith was seen as the frontrunner for WVTM and WPRI/WNAC as well (assuming those are sold), so I am surprised that wasn't announced, unless someone else wants them? I believe, due to the grandfathered LMA status, WPRI and WNAC must remain together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3458 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Meredith seems to be taking a piecemeal approach to their acquisitions, and due to the many variables in the LIN-MG deal, each market has their own situation, so they could be back for more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 TVNewsCheck stating that MG is lowering its per-share price (from $27.82 to $25.97), following the announcement of WISH-TV losing its CBS affiliation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 BREAKING NEWS!!!! Looks like the spinoffs are in order. Here's the breakdown, courtesy of TVNewsCheck. MG will buy Sinclair's WTTA in Tampa & KXRM/KXTU in Colorado Springs. In exchange, Sinclair will acquire WJAR in Providence & WLUK/WCWF in Green Bay. Sinclair will also acquire certain assets & rights to WTGS, owned by Vaughan Media. We already know that Meredith will acquire WALA in Mobile. And guess what y'all, HEARST!!!! will be acquiring NBC affiliate WVTM in Birmingham & WJCL in Savannah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3458 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 WJAR going to Sinclair is a shocker. But Hearst getting WVTM and WJCL finally gets them back in the acquisition game and could mean great things for both stations. By dumping WTTA, Sinclair got some more breathing room to expand in smaller markets like Providence and Green Bay. The only real switcheroo is in Providence when Media General will swap to WPRI/WNAC from WJAR. Also, it still appears that WFNA in Mobile will switch to Media General's control, and will shack up with WKRG instead of WALA. This will finally give WKRG a duopoly partner and could ironically be used to compete AGAINST WALA if they decide to add morning and prime newscasts. ...and one more thing....Studio Ten is likely a goner, hello "Better Gulf Coast"! (or something like that...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Hearst is a shocker for sure. I figured Providence would be their first pick since they have a lot in New England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenShine9 1509 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Prediction on how all the markets will shape up afterward: * Savannah: Not sure. Hearst has a distant 3rd place station, will they improve it or do nothing with it? I figured Sinclair would most want that station. I really don't expect much change in that market, WTOC is simply too dominant and WSAV well entrenched as well. WTGS goes to Sinclair cleanly, but it really is a wash since Savannah is too small for four news operations. * Providence: WHOA!!! If Sinclair manages WJAR decently, they should do well. But if they try to get political in a very blue region, they will plunge in the ratings fast. Media General might have got a coup there. WPRI/WNAC cannot be broken up by anyone (if Sinclair acquired those, they have to take both and keep both without breaking it), so that might have been MG's thinking. As for WLNE, they are likely stuck in a distant 3rd for a while. But WLNE is likely for sale soon too... * Birmingham: This is a game changer, folks. While I doubt Hearst will do much in Savannah, they have a huge opening here. But this - combined - is a HUGE loss for WABM/WBMA (33/40). I expect them to fall to 4th place, especially with the loss of coverage. Media General also makes big gains, and all this puts Raycom/WBRC on notice as well. * Green Bay: Another situation that not much will likely happen in. WBAY is already dominant and Packers revenue couldn't lure Media General away. WLUK actually doesn't fit too badly with Sinclair given their large Midwest presence, and since Quincy and Gray were not interested in WBAY (the most suitable for them), it might be basically status quo there. WGBA is the wildcard, will Scripps improve it? * Tampa: WTTA goes away and WFLA gains a sister station at last. But Hearst still has WMOR on its back (which I thought would be trade bait here) - Scripps or Gannett might want it? Any trade bait for them? * Colorado Springs: Media General grows a western cluster some more, but there is too much competition ahead of them. Not much change in the dynamics here. * Mobile: WALA under Meredith was a shocker (I figured Raycom would want it). As for market dynamics, no real change. WKMG and WALA are both the stronger stations, WEAR has a niche in Florida and WPMI is a distant 4th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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